


Knowers and Demons VI: The Reality Contained Within

by EnthusiasticFish



Series: Knowers and Demons [6]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-18 16:42:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29121378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EnthusiasticFish/pseuds/EnthusiasticFish
Summary: The Fracture has come, and Tim has to watch reality break...so that he can fix it. He knows how to do it. What he doesn't know is if he can survive.
Series: Knowers and Demons [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2116893
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

" _There's no reality except the one contained within us. That's why so many people live an unreal life.  
They take images outside them for reality and never allow the world within them to assert itself."  
_ _Hermann Hesse_

**Chapter 1**

_Tim stood looking over the world. It was as if he was standing on a ledge higher than anything else. He could see the cracks becoming larger and larger. The world was closer to breaking than it had ever been. Few could see it, and it was hard to watch the coming calamity and know that he had to wait._

_It would be coming sooner than he had expected._

" _I'm not ready," he said aloud._

" _The world does not wait for you to be ready."_

_Tim looked at Greta as she appeared beside him._

" _What will happen to you when this happens?"_

" _If you succeed, I will no longer exist in this form...as it should be. Death and Sleep will still exist, but not confined as we are to a personification."_

" _Confined?"_

" _Yes. This is not our natural state. We feel the strain as the world does."_

" _What about me?" Tim asked._

" _What about you?"_

_Tim grimaced. He had known that would be the response, and his choice couldn't be based on whether or not he'd survive it. The world wouldn't survive if he did nothing._

" _How long?"_

" _Not long."_

" _Is there anything I can do to get ready?"_

" _You can live."_

" _So...no, then."_

_Greta smiled and whirled away._

_Left alone once more, Tim looked out over the world. It was cracking. Soon it would be destroyed...and then, he would have to fix it once again. It was so bizarre that he was the one to be doing this. It didn't make a whole lot of sense when he thought about it. He wasn't an important person. He was just a computer geek._

" _...yeah, with an invisible tattoo of dragons that you can summon at any time."_

_Tim laughed quietly to himself and walked away from the edge. It was the world below him, but it wasn't a scene he wanted to get used to. If he had to see that cracking, it would be for as short a period as possible...and then, he'd figure out how to fix it._

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tim opened his eyes and sat up. The sun was just coming up over the horizon.

Dreams that weren't just dreams. He wondered if he'd ever have dreams that were just twisted pieces of his subconscious mind. Of course, as he already knew, if anyone knew about his reality, they'd think he was crazy. Sometimes, he was surprised that Tony had been so determined to stick it out with this strange world. Sometimes, he wondered if Tony would reject it at the end just so that he didn't have to worry about that nightmare he had.

In the two months since Tim had seen Tony's nightmare, he hadn't mentioned it. In fact, he and Tony had gone on as if nothing had happened. Tim had been forced to take a vacation since it was assumed that he'd burned out. Thankfully, he was only getting a couple of strange looks at work...at least that he'd noticed.

He could feel the strain of the world...no, not the world. It was the strain of reality. It was starting to crack. The Fracture would happen soon. Very soon. He wondered if it would be all at once, or if it would be gradual.

_Will I survive it?_

Did it matter? It didn't change what he had to do. He should just stop thinking about whether or not the repairing of the world would leave him alive or dead.

He got out of bed and forced himself to touch the power of the dreamer. He didn't like doing it, but he made himself to do so every day. He didn't want to give Greta any excuse for attacking him again.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then, he opened his eyes and smiled. There was a sphere floating in the middle of his room. He walked over to it, stepped inside and saw a much larger world. There was a single tree, surrounded by waterfalls. He walked over and sat down beneath the tree. Then, he closed his eyes and enjoyed the complete peace he could get here. He knew that this was further destabilizing reality, but at this point, he just wanted it to be done. Nothing could hold it back and he finally understood that it _shouldn't_ be held back. Break it so that it can be fixed.

It was a Sunday and Tim was planning on staying in here as long as he possibly could. When he opened his eyes, he could see his apartment beyond the sphere, but in here...it was just serene, the roar of the waterfalls drowning out any other sound.

Time passed. Tim didn't know how much, but he heard a knock on the door. Reluctantly, he stood up and climbed out of the sphere. He took a breath and let the sphere disappear and then he walked to the door. He peered through the peephole and saw Gibbs...with others he didn't recognize.

He opened the door.

"Boss...what's going on?"

Gibbs didn't look happy.

"Can we come in, McGee?"

"Sure."

Tim stepped aside and four men followed Gibbs into the room. Tim closed the door.

"What's going on?" he asked again.

"You're _the_ knower," one of the men said.

Tim looked at Gibbs.

"I didn't tell them."

"Yes. Who are you?"

"These are Watchers," Gibbs said.

"Okay. What do you want?"

"Reality is breaking. More and more things are happening that _can't_ happen. Every day, it's getting worse."

"I know," Tim said.

"Then, why aren't you _stopping_ it?" another asked.

"Because I can't. Not yet."

"Why not? Isn't that your function?"

Tim raised an eyebrow. These were people who had a link to the world that shouldn't exist, but they clearly didn't know all the details of what was happening.

"Yes, it is."

"Then, why aren't you doing anything?"

"Because it's not time. Not yet."

"If you wait much longer, reality is going to fracture!"

"Exactly."

The men looked at each other and then at Gibbs.

"You're going to let reality be destroyed?"

"Yes," Tim said.

One of the men lunged at him, shouting loudly. Tim fell back and reacted without thinking.

"Three into one!" he shouted.

The dragons burst off his hand and surrounded the attacker. The others shouted loudly in shock.

Quickly, Tim called the dragons back before they could harm anyone. They swirled around him, onto his arm, down to his palm. Tim curled his fingers gently around them and they vanished.

"Do not attack me," he said. "I may not be able to call them back in time."

The confidence was now missing from their faces. Gibbs looked surprised but he wasn't upset. On the contrary, he looked pretty pleased about Tim's reaction.

"Why aren't you going to stop it?"

"Because that isn't how it works. You can't fix something that's not broken."

"If reality breaks, how will _you_ manage to be anywhere that will allow for repair?"

Tim understood that they were testing him. That was fine. If they wanted a demonstration of what he was, he'd give it to them. He closed his eyes and took a breath, touching the dreamer within him. He knew the moment that the dreamer took control because there was a unified gasp of horror. Tim knew that his eyes were gone, that the dreamer was now looking at them. When he spoke, even his voice took on a different timbre.

"I am not _in_ reality, not if I don't want to be. Dreams are mine. I know what I have to do. I know when I have to do it, and you have nothing to say about it. You are Watchers, not doers. I will do what needs to be done, _when_ it needs to be done. Do not come here and attempt to force me to act. You will not survive the attempt."

He looked at them (wondering, idly, how it was that he could still see even when his eyes were gone), staring until they started to back away. They left, but Gibbs stayed behind. Quickly, Tim forced the dreamer back inside and took another breath.

"Impressive, McGee," Gibbs said.

"Thanks. Why were you–?"

"They knew that I was in contact with the knower. They told me to bring them to you."

"You're so obedient, Boss," Tim said with a smile.

_Thwack!_

"Were you telling the truth? Does the world have to break before you can fix it?"

Tim nodded. "Yes. Anything I did now would only be temporary. I have to...restart reality. Otherwise, it'll keep limping along until it breaks into too many pieces for anyone to repair."

"And it _has_ to be _you_?"

Tim could hear the skepticism. He supposed he couldn't blame Gibbs for finding it hard to believe that his computer geek agent was the one to save the world. Tim wouldn't have believed it if it hadn't been him.

"Yes. It does. Unless there's another knower out there, another person like me who'd like to take on the burden. There are other knowers, Boss...people who have a bit more of a link to the other plane. ...people like Ducky who can feel the other world but don't know how to manipulate it, but I'm the knower. It has to be me."

"And Tony?"

Tim shook his head. "No. When it comes right down to it, Tony won't be involved. There's nothing he can do."

"You've said that before, apparently."

"But this really is true. He can't put reality back together. Only I can do that. He'll be affected like everyone will but, but he's not going to be involved."

"He won't accept sitting on the sidelines."

"He won't have a choice. There will be only one place in all of reality that _isn't_ a sideline...and that's where I'll be. There won't be room for him."

"You know exactly what will happen?"

"Not exactly. But enough."

"And how will you keep him away?"

Tim smiled humorlessly.

"I won't have to keep him away. He won't be able to get to me."

"You have a link that says otherwise."

Tim shook his head. "It won't be there."

"How do you know?"

"Because I'm going to remove it before this happens."

"How?"

"Don't tell Tony, Boss," Tim said, earnestly. "Please. When all this goes down...reality is going to be not reality anymore. I won't have to stay around and explain it to him. It doesn't matter how much he protests. I'm not going to risk..."

"What?"

Tim just shook his head.

"Don't tell him, Boss. Just don't tell him. It will only make what I have to do harder."

"And what do you have to do?"

"Save the world," Tim said. "The exact details wouldn't even make sense to you. They barely do to me."

Gibbs got a stern look on his face.

"I don't pretend to get all this stuff, but don't you just sit back and take something because you don't think you have the option of trying anything else. I know you can fight. Do that."

"It's not a battle, Boss. Not this time. There's no evil demon waiting in the wings to come swooping down and take over the world. The world is breaking and I have to fix it."

"Then, fix it, but don't assume that there's nothing you can do."

Tim smiled. "I wish there wasn't."

Gibbs smiled back.

"You know when it'll happen?"

"No. Not exactly, but it's coming. Very soon. It won't be a mystery to anyone who knows. Everyone will be afraid, but it won't be something you could mistake for anything other than reality being destroyed."

Gibbs nodded. He stared at Tim for a few moments and then he smiled again.

"Will you be at work tomorrow?"

Tim grinned. "If the world hasn't ended."

"Then, I'll see you tomorrow, McGee."

Tim nodded.

"Bye, Boss."

Gibbs started to leave but then he stopped and turned around. He took hold of Tim's wrist and turned over his hand, the tattooed hand.

"I never could see them before," he said. "I knew there was something there, but today is the first day that I've seen anything."

"That's because they're not supposed to exist."

Gibbs nodded. "They're not, but _you_ are. Don't forget that."

Then, he left.

Tim stared at the door and then walked to the window. He looked out and then up at the sky. There was a distortion up there. Not especially obvious yet, but it was coming.

Tim clenched his fist, feeling the dragons trembling. There was a power he hadn't yet released. The dragons attacked on command. The dreamer devoured dreams, annihilated them. If he released the dragons with the dreamer in control...

He took a deep breath.

Would this be enough?

He hoped so.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Tim seemed more than a little withdrawn when he came to work on Monday. Tony could see it, but he thought he might know why. There were things going on just out of his vision. All the time. It was taking more effort to ignore them than to see them...and that wasn't normal. Tony looked around. Gibbs wasn't there. Ziva hadn't arrived yet. Perfect.

He walked over to Tim's desk.

"What's going on, McGee?" he asked.

"You know what's going on, Tony."

"Is that all?"

"All?" Tim repeated with his eyebrows raising.

"I mean...it's not anything more than that?"

Tim shook his head.

"Well, you know you're not in this by yourself, right?"

"I know."

"Good...because no matter what happens, I don't want you to try and keep me out. Got it?"

Tim smiled. "I got it, Tony. I know. I'm just...nervous. It's the waiting."

"Yeah...me, too."

There was a moment of silence. Then, Tony looked at Tim again.

"What are you going to do?"

Tim smiled. "I'm going to work...until I have to do something else."

Tony smiled, too. "Sounds like a plan."

He walked back to his desk and sat down. They were both working when Ziva arrived.

"Have things seemed strange to you?" she asked them both.

"Strange how?" Tim asked.

Tony straightened. What _would_ Ziva be talking about when she wasn't privy to all that was going on?

"It is hard to explain. It is as though I am feeling something...around me, but I cannot see it."

"Something threatening?"

Ziva sat down and considered Tim's question. Then, she shook her head.

"Not threatening. Oppressive is the word. Waiting for something to happen, but I do not have a feeling of...of evil from it."

Tony didn't know how Tim felt about that, but he was surprised at how much Ziva was feeling. Either she was more in tune than Tony would have thought or the cracks were very close to breaking.

"Perhaps it is nothing important," Ziva said. "I will see if it continues today."

She looked at her monitor even as Gibbs strode to his desk with a special glance at Tim who just shook his head without speaking.

They all worked during the day, but Gibbs kept them close to headquarters. Then, Tony saw it.

On TV.

Something unbelievable.

...or something that _should_ be unbelievable.

"Tim, do you see this?" Tony asked.

Tim looked up at the TV and then walked over. As he did, there was a sudden rippling. Tony grabbed for the desk...but the desk wasn't actually moving.

"Was that an earthquake?" he asked.

Tim shook his head and looked at Tony with a strange expression on his face.

"No. It wasn't."

"What was it, then?"

"A reality quake," Tim said. He took a breath. "Tony..."

"What? Is it starting?"

"Not just yet, but soon. ...and there's something I need to do."

"What?"

Tony squashed the moment of fear. It was only a dream. Tim wasn't going to kill him. He looked around, and the bullpen was frozen in place. No one was moving. Ziva was standing motionless in the middle of standing up from her desk.

"Tim...is that–?"

...but suddenly, he couldn't move. For the first time that he could think of, Tim was using his power on Tony. He was conscious, but he couldn't move.

Tim walked toward him. He carefully opened Tony's shirt.

"Don't worry, Tony," Tim said with a weak smile. "I know all about your nightmare. I'm not going to kill you. I would never do that. Not even to save my own life. That's why I'm doing this now. I'm about to rebuild reality and I'm not going to risk you getting pulled into what I have to do. I have to do it, but you don't, and I won't let you get sucked away when I have to break and repair reality. The link...it's over."

Tim lifted his hand with his black tattoo. It began to shiver and tremble, and Tony was afraid...because he couldn't do anything, couldn't stop what was going to happen...and he didn't _know_ what was going to happen.

But then, Tim covered the tattoo on Tony's chest with his hand...and Tony felt like it was on fire. He would have screamed if he could.

...but he couldn't.

It seemed to go on forever.

Then, Tim stepped away, and Tony felt as though there was a hole in his mind, something missing that he'd had before.

Tim had removed their connection, a link that had been in place for years. Now, it was gone, and Tony felt that. It was like he'd lost a part of himself.

Tim smiled again.

"You'll never understand why I had to do this, Tony, but if I don't survive what's coming, could you at least do me the favor of remembering who I am? I don't know if I'll even have existed when this is over."

Then, there was another ripple of reality. It was stronger and Tim thrust his tattooed hand into the air. He shouted.

"Three into one!"

Then, he was gone in a whirl of dragons, reminiscent of Greta's appearances.

...and Tony could move again.

The bullpen started moving again.

"Where did McGee go?" Ziva asked. "He was right here. What is wrong with _you_ , Tony?"

Tony ignored her and ran to the window. He didn't have that same sense that he'd had before. He didn't know that was tied to the connection, too.

...but it didn't matter. He looked out the window, and heard everyone else in the bullpen coming up behind him. They all stared.

At the Anacostia River.

Rising out of its banks.

Not a flood.

It was as if the river itself had become alive. It was writhing, swirling...searching.

For what?

_Reality._

The word rose up out of his mind. Reality was breaking. The Earth was reacting to it. How much worse would it get before it was really broken?

"What is that?" Ziva asked, her voice soft.

"I wish I could tell you," Tony said.

There were no screams, no stampeding citizens. They were in too much shock to panic. What they were seeing was not frightening. It was impossible.

They kept expecting it to suddenly stop moving, but it didn't. The river writhed and swirled around and around. It seemed alive, but it was still just water. No fire-breathing serpent attacking the populace. Just water.

Just.

"What do we do?" Gibbs asked.

"We can't fight this kind of thing," Tony said. "There's we nothing _can_ do."

Ziva looked at Tony and then at Gibbs.

"You know more than you are saying."

"Yeah," Tony said. What was the point in denying it when reality was about to break?

"Tell me. Does it explain this that we are seeing? Does it explain where Tim has gone?"

"Yes."

Ziva's eyes widened. It was clear she hadn't expected a positive answer. She grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the window, away from the writhing river, away from the darkening sky that Tony somehow knew would end up looking like the sky he'd seen in the demon world before. It would not be possible, but it would still be there.

Gibbs followed after them and said nothing as Ziva pushed Tony down onto a chair and demanded answers.

"Tell me what you know! Tell me what explains this madness!"

Tony had never really told anyone who didn't already know before. He didn't know how to say the words. He didn't know how to explain because actual words couldn't possibly encapsulate all that was happening.

"Reality is breaking, Ziva," he said. "It's fracturing into pieces and it has to happen. Tim can't fix it until it breaks."

"Tim? What does he have to do with this horror movie we are seeing?"

Tony smiled bleakly. "That's what I called it in the beginning, too, but like Tim told me, there are no ending credits. You don't get to walk out of the theater when it's over. If you lose, you're dead...or worse."

"Tell me!" she said again.

"This is going to sound crazy, yes, even with what you just saw outside."

There was another rippling and Ziva gasped, trying to steady herself...until she realized that she wasn't actually moving. The rippling lasted longer than it had the first time.

"What–?"

"Reality...breaking. Tim is a...a knower. He has some kind of...ability to see and hear things that we can't. He has power, too. He can use it to fix what is breaking, but he has to wait until it's broken. He can't fix it until then. He's gone off to get ready, I guess."

"You guess?" Gibbs asked.

Tony looked at Gibbs and then rubbed his own chest. "He the broke the link, Boss. He said he wouldn't risk me getting sucked in. I don't know where he is. I can't feel it anymore."

"You? Linked with McGee?" Ziva asked, a slight smile on her face.

Tony actually laughed. "Yeah. Bizarre, isn't it? Shouldn't have been me, but he didn't have a choice. I was there when he had to have someone there...and I was too nosy to stay out of it once I knew." The smile faded. "But I don't know where he is now. He doesn't know if he'll survive what he has to do...and he's made it so that I can't do anything to help."

"Yes, you can," Gibbs said.

"What? I can't do what I did before."

Another rippling and the windows vanished. They didn't break. They just weren't there any longer and there was a roaring sound outside, like a strong wind. The people who had been crowded around the window backed away from the roaring.

Vance was suddenly out on the balcony shouting for everyone to go down to the basement.

Tony wanted to say that it was pointless trying to find somewhere safe to go, but what was the point of that? If this all worked, it wouldn't matter...and if it didn't work, it probably wouldn't matter, either. Might as well have the _illusion_ of safety.

People started heading for the stairs. Tony, Gibbs and Ziva didn't move.

"That was when reality made sense, when it was working. It's not now. Why not use that?" Gibbs suggested.

"I don't know how," Tony said. "I'm not an expert on this stuff, Boss! I'm just fumbling through it."

Gibbs smiled. "Doesn't matter. You want to help him? See if you can."

"Wait," Ziva said. "What will this mean...if McGee does not...fix...whatever it is?"

Tony smiled bleakly. "Then, none of this will mean a thing."

"And you can help him?"

"Maybe."

Ziva looked around at the sudden chaos and insanity that was the world. Because she generally kept herself very controlled, she didn't tend to react immediately to problems. She analyzed. Then, she stepped forward and hugged Tony tightly.

"Then, do it. If there is anything we can do to help those who are here, we will do so. You help McGee...save the world."

She pulled back and smiled. Then, she and Gibbs followed those who had fled to the basement. Tony looked at the windows...or the space where the windows should be. He looked at Tim's empty desk. He felt the place where the tattoo had been.

No way was Tim facing this alone. Even if all Tony could do was be there...he'd be there.

Decision made, Tony ran for the stairs and out of the building.

...into a broken world.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Tim appeared on a ledge, somehow high enough to see the world below him. The Fracture was beginning and he could see the horrors beginning to leak through the cracks. People being sucked into voids and deposited elsewhere, alone and adrift. The shaking of reality until others were driven mad by the disorientation. It was just the beginning. He crouched down and watched. He could see the actual cracks in reality, the fabric tearing into pieces...and he could hear the screaming. He hated it. Waiting, holding himself back until the right moment.

It was agony to wait. More than once, he surged to his feet to stop something, but stopped himself in time.

"I hate this."

"That will not change anything."

Tim looked back at Greta.

"Why do you keep coming here?"

"Why do you? It is not necessary."

"To see what's happening."

"You do not need it."

"I hate waiting while people suffer."

"Then, why do it?"

"What else can I do?"

Greta didn't reply. She just looked at him. Tim knew.

"You want me to...to _break_ it myself?"

"You do not want to wait or extend their suffering."

"But..."

"'Reality is shaped by the forces that destroy it.' It was said by a human. D. Harlan Wilson."

"I was just going to rebuild it, not shape it."

Greta smiled. It was not a pleasant smile. Tim hated that she took on this form that was seemingly so kind and friendly.

"You cannot rebuild it the way it was. It is impossible."

"But...I'm not qualified to shape reality! It's not just my reality! It's everyone's!"

"You are the knower. This is your task. You helped reality break. You must rebuild it. Stop questioning it and do it."

Tim looked at Greta and then looked down at the fracturing world.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tony took a step and wasn't on the Yard anymore. He had been running for the gate, but now...

"Where am I?" he said aloud.

There was no answer, but he knew he wasn't on the Yard.

"Tim! Can you hear me?" he shouted.

There was no reply. Tony hadn't really expected one, though. If Tim had suddenly just answered him, he would...

" _Tony, what in the world are you doing?"_

The voice seemed to bounce off the walls of the buildings and yet was also whispering in his ear.

"McGee! Ha!" Tony said in triumph. Then, he felt the world shaking around him. He was terrified that something would fall on him. ...but nothing did.

" _You should not be where you are."_

"Where _am_ I?" Tony asked.

" _Take another step. Just take another step, please."_

"Why?"

" _Because that place is about to break and I don't want to see you fall into the void."_

"Break? Void? What are you talking about?"

" _Tony, just take a step."_

Tony was reluctant, but he did, and suddenly, he was in a lovely garden, surrounded by waterfalls. There was a tree in the middle of the garden. He thought he heard a sigh of relief.

"Whoa! Where is this?"

" _A dream. My dream. You'll be safe there."_

"I don't want to be safe, McGee! There's too much going wrong! I told you already–"

" _I saw your nightmare, Tony. I saw your worst fear."_

Tony let out a groan. "Why? I asked you not to."

" _I had to know what was so awful that you didn't want me to see it. Greta showed me."_

"Of course, she did," Tony grumbled. "That doesn't surprise me at all."

" _I don't blame you, and I won't let it happen."_

"You didn't have to do that. I would have let..."

" _I know. That's why I had to say no before it started...so that I couldn't be tempted to kill you to save myself."_

Tony looked around.

"This is a pretty nice place, McGee."

" _The only place I've felt at peace since this started. Tony, I have things to do. Just stay there."_

"No! No freaking way, Probie! Reality is shattering. Who knows what's going to happen to the people while this is going on. You're going to rebuild it. And you expect me to sit around and twiddle my thumbs? No way! I won't!"

He started to take another step.

" _Please, Tony! Don't! I don't want..."_

"Since when did I _ever_ listen to what you want or don't want?" Tony asked with a grin.

He took another step and he was in darkness.

No, it wasn't just darkness. It was black. Completely black.

He heard a scream. And then another one.

"Get away from me! Help!"

Tony ran toward the voice without a second thought. The problem was that he couldn't see anything. He could only hear. He didn't know what he would do about that, but he wasn't one to stand by.

As he got closer to the screaming voice, he heard a familiar shout and then saw three strange dragons. They were Tim's dragons, of course, but they looked different. There was something more wild about them. Also, they somehow looked more real than dragons had any right to. They surrounded and devoured something. Tony tried to see what it was, but he couldn't. There were three people cowering on the ground, two women and a young girl.

Reality shook and they started to scream again. The dragons turned on them. Tony ran over and stood in front of them.

"McGee! Call them off!" he shouted. "Stop them!"

The dragons leapt at him and he stood his ground.

Just before they got to him and they spun around each other in a reality-defying turn. One of the tails caught Tony in the chest and flung him back on top of the women.

He gasped for breath and the dragons vanished.

"Are you all right?"

"What's going on?"

"I saw dragons! What is _happening_?"

The panicked voices penetrated Tony's daze. He'd had no idea that the dragons could have a _physical_ impact on him. They were supposed to be metaphors or something like that! He struggled to get to his feet.

"Why is this happening?" one of the women asked, tears in her voice.

Tony got onto his hands and knees and looked at them. He knew there was no way they could be safe, nowhere they could go. What could he tell them? Nothing.

"It's happening because it has to," Tony said. "Just stay together. Whatever else you do. Stay together. Nothing else will matter."

He forced himself to his feet and took a step.

...and wasn't wherever he'd been anymore.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tim let out a breath.

"You are letting yourself be distracted."

"I am _human_ ," Tim said. "I can't ignore other people's fear and pain!"

Greta scoffed at him.

"Barely human. If you do not ignore it, you will be sacrificing the existence of _all_. It is not a strength to be focused on one person at the expense of everyone else."

Tim looked down again. He couldn't stay up here, safe from everything, not when so many people were suffering so much. If he remained on the ledge, looking down at the world, he would be a ruler, a dictator, making all decisions about what reality would be without any feel for what it should be.

"I won't stay here," he said.

Greta just rolled her eyes at him and whirled away. Tim looked down and took a step.

He wasn't on the ledge any longer.

He was in the midst of reality crumbling around him. People were alternatively screaming at places where it was shattering and frozen or lost as voids, places where reality was completely broken, hit them. It was horrible and Tim wanted to stop it, even though he knew he couldn't.

 _How can I do this?_ Tim asked himself. Over and over again, he held himself back from completely destroying everything he knew, the world he knew.

He took a step and was in the middle of Chesapeake Bay, hovering above the water that was starting to writhe. It flung itself up around him, soaking him in the spray, higher and higher.

Tim did nothing.

The sounds of horror still reached his ears. He could hear the wails. He crouched down and covered his head with his hands.

_I can't do this._

Then, suddenly, Tony appeared right beside him. He took a step and fell into the writhing water. Tim looked at him for a moment, almost uncertain of what to do about the fact that Tony was currently drowning in water that seemed to be alive.

"Tim! Help!"

Tim sighed and reached down. He grabbed Tony's flailing hand and pulled him out of the water.

"Tony, how did you get here?"

Tony looked around.

"I took a step. Where is _here_?" he asked.

"Chesapeake Bay."

"Why?"

"Why not? How are you here?"

Tony grinned. "It's like the demon world. You think about where you want to be when you take a step and _poof_! You're right there!"

"Tony...I didn't want you to be here," Tim said.

Tony's smile faded.

"Why not? After all this time, why try to do this on your own now?"

"Because there's nothing you can do! There's nothing anyone can do except me. ...and Tony, I hate this."

Tony looked around.

"Why are you here?"

"Greta says that I should just break everything so that I can fix it. It will give me more control when I rebuild it."

"Then, why don't you?"

"Because I'm afraid," Tim confessed.

"Of what?" Tony asked. "What could be worse than this?"

He gestured at the ripples of reality, the sky that was taking on the continually changing appearance of the demon world.

"I could fix it wrong," Tim said. "There's no guarantee that I'll do it right. Once I...I start the process, I don't know if I'll have control or if I'll just be...doing something that is all that I can do."

"How will you break it?" Tony asked.

"I don't want to."

"Just do it, Tim!" Tony said. "You've fought back on these things every time. Don't wimp out now, not when it's the most important thing. If breaking it yourself will help, then, _do_ it!"

Tim knew Tony was right, but he just didn't know if he could tolerate knowing that it would be his hand that destroyed the world...and hopefully, rebuilt it again.

Tony grabbed him and shook him.

"Tim, I can't hear you anymore in my head. So I don't know what you're thinking right now. ...but I don't care how hard it is for you. I don't care if you're scared. I care that you are the only one who can do this and you have to. There's no standing back and watching! You _have_ to do it!"

Tim looked at Tony and then closed his eyes and nodded. He had to. Tony was right.

Tony let him go.

Tim looked away from Tony and out at the world that was slowly falling apart around him. He closed his eyes again and took a deep breath. He heard Tony make a small sound of surprise as he let the dreamer out. The dreamer was hungry and there were unlimited dreams to consume. However, that wasn't what Tim wanted to do, not yet anyway. He had to make the dreams worse than they would be, harder for reality to take because they wouldn't just be dreams.

They would be dreams brought to life. Not just for him but for all of reality.

He stepped back from Tony. He searched for the weakest spot in reality and aimed at it. He sent the dragons to attack it, trying to ignore all the people who were being affected by it. Instead of his usual dragons, or even the dragons as they had changed, the dragons he released were meant to destroy reality by attacking it with dreams. These were dragons out of your worst nightmares. Not fire-breathing. That was too simple. These were dragons who would attack. Every step they took would destroy.

Tim sent them out.

Tony said nothing.

The sound of wailing increased exponentially as the dragons attacked and shredded reality to pieces. Tim couldn't hold back tears which fell from his missing eyes. He could almost _feel_ the fear and pain of the world.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tony was shocked by what he saw as the dragons swelled in size. Every step they took, they got larger and larger.

"Tim..." he whispered.

"I know," Tim said. "But you can't take it back now, Tony. This is what has to happen. No changing your mind."

It was disconcerting looking at Tim with his eyes missing...but watching the destruction of everything was horrifying.

After a few minutes...or whatever time there was, the screams began to get softer.

"What's happening?" Tony asked.

Tim shook his head.

"Tim! What is _happening_?"

"This is what you wanted me to do, Tony," Tim said, his voice sounding strange and almost alien. "This is it. You can't change your mind now. The void is swallowing everyone and everything." Tim looked at him...somehow with his eyes missing. "And I don't think that I can keep this from happening to you, too. I'm sorry."

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Greta watched with a smile. Finally. Soon reality would be broken and when it was rebuilt, she would no longer be confined.

Death appeared beside her.

"It is happening."

"Yes. At last."

Two more figures took shape on the ledge. One with a green aura and one with a gray aura.

"He is in pain."

Greta looked at the pair.

"It doesn't matter what he feels."

The woman shook her head. "No, you are wrong. It matters because he is trying to save all. Pain is real and it means something."

The man looked at the disintegration.

"I am not the knower. Will this succeed?"

Greta smiled. "Nor am I."

Death nodded. "It will."

"But what will be the cost?"

Death said nothing.

"Perhaps a life. Perhaps not. You chose him," Greta said. "You cannot go back on your choosing now."

Rhian nodded. "Yes. I chose him, but it was the only choice I could make. If there had been another, I would have done it."

"As our descendant, he is the one who was needed to repair the damage," Sorin said softly. "My damage. I began this destruction, albeit without knowing. The slow and steady destruction was not his doing."

"It doesn't matter. Blame changes nothing," Greta said. "All that matters is that it will be repaired...after it has been destroyed. I do not care otherwise."

"I care," Rhian said. "I care...and I cannot save him this time."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Down in the basement of NCIS, people were crowded together. There was a lot of noise. The tension was thick, and Gibbs and Ziva did their best to keep everyone calm. Every so often, something would start to shake and people would scream until they realized that the building wasn't moving.

It was reality.

After a while, Ziva sat down beside Gibbs and shook her head.

"Is this possible, Gibbs?" she asked.

"Is what possible?"

"What Tony said. About McGee...and all of this."

"Yes."

"But how?"

"Don't know that. Doesn't mean it's not happening."

Ducky wove his way through the crowd.

"Jethro...something is going on here. This isn't a strange series of earthquakes. Nothing is actually moving. And then...I saw the Anacostia. It's as if we've suddenly stepped out of reality and into fantasy."

"Yeah," Gibbs said.

Ducky raised an eyebrow, but before he could say anything else, the roaring from outside penetrated their sanctuary.

...but at the same time, it started becoming silent. Empty. Still.

"What's happening?" Ducky asked, but then, he didn't need to ask. He saw it.

Or rather, he didn't see what he _should_ have seen. Spreading across the basement was...black. Not even black because black is a color. It was...nothing. Where it spread, there was nothing. The people who had been there...no longer there.

"What is–?" he asked and started to stand.

Gibbs stayed where he was, but he put out his hand to stop Ducky from moving away.

"There's nothing you can do, Duck. Nowhere you can go. Just sit."

Ducky looked at Gibbs.

"You know what this is?"

Gibbs nodded.

"What?"

Before he could answer, there was another shake, a loud roar and the nothing reached Ducky.

Ducky was no longer there.

Ziva gasped and scooted back, involuntarily.

"Gibbs..."

Reality was only right around them now. There was nothing else in the basement. There was nothing else.

Gibbs just smiled.

"We'll be–"

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tim felt the void growing , swallowing up all in its path as reality continued to fracture and disappear. The sky was still that crazy, constantly-changing, psychedelic pattern, but even that would be gone soon. The more of reality that broke, the more _would_ continue to break...and break...and break...

...until there was nothing left. Until Tim himself was alone with the shattered remnants that he had to put back together again.

Tony was watching from beside him. He had stopped expressing his horror, his shock, his fear. He just watched. He watched and trusted Tim to do things right.

Tim just wished he was as confident.

...and there was more to it. Tim hadn't said it, but he was also afraid of what would happen to him when this was over. If he did manage to create a stable reality, would he have any part of it or would _he_ vanish from existence? A knower and a dreamer, one who shouldn't have the power he did. What would happen to him when the world was back to normal. Would he die? Would he never have existed in the first place?

All the thoughts kept running through his mind, but he didn't speak them aloud. He just guided and urged his dragons to continue to destroy. Because he had released them while in the dreamer state, they were insatiable. There was no limit to how much they could destroy, how much they could consume.

The void was spreading and Tim could feel it.

"How much longer?" Tony asked, his voice soft amidst the heaving waters of Chesapeake Bay.

"Not much," Tim said. "It'll take you, too, Tony."

"I was afraid of that. Will I feel it?"

"I don't know. You shouldn't. If I do things right, you shouldn't even notice...or if you do, it will only be for a second."

Tony looked away from the fracture and looked at Tim.

"Hey, McGee?"

"Yeah?"

"Will reality come back all at once or in pieces?"

"In pieces, but it'll be fast."

"Then...bring me back, first, okay?"

Tim smiled. "Why? You want to kibbitz my technique?"

Tony smiled, too. "No...I want to see it. I'm seeing it destroyed, bit by bit, because it _has_ to be. I want to see it come back. Better than before."

"Maybe it won't be, Tony," Tim said. "I might do it all wrong!"

"You won't. I know you won't."

"I thought knowing was _my_ job," Tim said.

"Maybe, but you also tend to undersell yourself," Tony said with a grin.

There was a loud roar and the water trembled violently and then spewed up toward the sky. Tim and Tony were both soaked to the skin.

Tony looked and saw Tim's dragons coming back. Behind them was...nothing.

"Tim..."

"They're coming," Tim said, nodding.

"Remember...me, first. I think I deserve it after everything you've put me through." He grinned.

"Put you through! It was _your_ choice! Just because you're too nosy to stay out of it..."

The roar got louder and louder. There was no water around them anymore. The Chesapeake Bay had emptied, but they were still hovering in the air over the empty basin. Why not? It wasn't possible, but that was the point.

"Tony..."

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"For what?"

"Everything."

The dragons were getting closer. The roar made it impossible to hear anything, but somehow, they still managed it.

Closer.

"My pleasure, McGee," Tony said. He watched the dragons. "I really have to be part of it? You can't pull any strings?"

"Yeah. Nothing of reality can survive. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I'm sure it'll all be just..."

The fracture reached Tony.

The dragons, still hungry for more, reluctantly returned to Tim's hand and took up residence on his palm, waiting to be released again.

And Tim was alone.

No Tony. No Chesapeake Bay. No Greta. No Death.

Nothing.

Just him.

In a void.

Tim looked around...but there was nothing around to look at. There was nothing. Just him. Just him in a nothingness that, if he didn't rebuild it, would be open for all the horrors of fantasy to take over.

For an unknown length of time (because there _was_ no time), Tim panicked. He was all alone in the void where reality had been before.

Then, he started to hear something.

Whispers.

Faint whispers.

And somehow, he could see.

What he could see terrified him.

He hadn't seen demons since he'd sealed off the demon world. But they weren't part of reality. They were beyond reality and so there they were.

" _Let us in,"_ they whispered seductively.

They wanted reality as much as Tim did...but for a different reason. They knew that if he made it right, they would be sealed out of it.

" _Let us in,"_ they said.

"No!"

" _You can't do it. You can't keep us out! You will fail!"_

Since that was what scared Tim the most anyway, the insidious whispers seemed to get inside him.

The dragons on his palm shivered in reaction to his fear.

" _You will not be able to keep us away. You cannot even build what is needed! You will fail!"_

Tim didn't know if he could or not.

He was ready to give up.

...and then, he thought of all the people waiting for him to do something, to fix it, to repair reality so that they could exist.

_If I do nothing..._

" _Do nothing!"_

Tim put out his hand and created his sanctuary. He needed to get away from the whispers. Right after it appeared, he leapt inside it. The whispers were cut off and he sighed with relief.

The waterfalls cut off the non-sound coming from the demons. He sat down beneath the tree in the center and leaned against the trunk, closing his eyes. He felt the urgency to do something, but at the same time, he was terrified of doing it wrong.

And right now, there was no one he could ask for help. There were no cheerleaders. There was no one to tell him he could do it. No one who could help him get it right. He had to do it right himself. He had to know that he could.

Tim took a breath.

Another breath.

Then, he started to think about reality, and suddenly, it came to him. He didn't have to create it all. He had to get it started, but reality could only take so many forms. He had to guide it, but it would happen once he let it.

Finally, Tim was getting it.

He got to his feet, banished the dream that was his hiding place and he struggled to ignore the renewed whisperings of the demons.

Tony might want to be first, but Tim wanted to let out a bit of reality first, to give him someplace to stand. He brought up his palm and whispered to the dragons. He didn't let them out all the way, but they came off in a small form and created a boundary that would keep out the demons. The boundary was a solid piece instead of the patch job he had made before. He was making a new reality, one solid bit that would expand...much like the universe.

After the boundary was set, there was a ground to stand on. Tim had to decide where he was. This would be the beginning of reestablishing reality. Everything would spread outward from this point. The dragons would take it out.

Someplace isolated so that when everything came back...when reality took root...when he destroyed the world that allowed him to exist.

_No, I can't think about that. I can't worry about that._

He had been in Chesapeake Bay. Tim smiled a little and thought about Poplar Island. The southern tip where they were still bringing the dredging material to build up more of the island that had eroded away. It was likely to be empty of people. He closed his eyes and thought about Tony.

"...fine. You'll destroy stuff and fix stuff and everything will be just fine."

Tim smiled and looked at Tony.

"So? Are you–?" Tony asked. Then, he looked around. "You did. You already did, didn't you."

Tim nodded.

"What did you see?" Tim asked.

"Nothing. As far as I know, nothing happened."

"Good."

"Where are we?" Tony asked.

"Poplar Island."

"Why?"

"Isolation. While I'm bringing everything back."

Tony looked around and Tim did, too. The little sprit was all that he had brought back so far.

"There's...not much here, Tim."

Tim laughed a little. "I know. There will be."

"How?"

Tim swallowed and pushed away the fear he had. Another reason he had removed the link he had made with Tony was so that Tony would be entirely based in reality. No chance of getting taken out by what he was about to unleash. It wasn't that everything would be reality with no dreams. Dreams were important, but they wouldn't _be_ reality. They would be dreams, ideas, fantasies, whatever. As they should be.

 _As I will be_ , Tim thought to himself.

But now...now, it was time to do what he was afraid to do. It was time to set aside his worries about his own fate and focus on making sure everyone else had an existence.

Bracing his tattooed hand, he brought up both of his arms, closed his eyes and silently called on the dragons. It was one of the last times they would exist.

They burst out of his hand, large, gleaming, powerful. They went off in three directions. Everywhere they went, reality burst into existence. Tim kept his hand up. His conception of reality was guiding them.

...and it would call them back.

...to the last part of metareality to be destroyed.

The knower.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"Will people remember what happened?" Tony asked.

Tim didn't reply at first. He seemed to be concentrating very intensely on...whatever. He wasn't sure what Tim had to do with his dragons to bring reality back, but he was doing it.

After a moment, Tim answered, although he didn't look away from the distance.

"They could, but people have an amazing ability to forget things that can't happen," Tim said. "It'll work out as it should."

"Now, who's being the optimist?"

Tim smiled, but it was a bleak smile. "I'm not being an optimist. I just know."

"Right. Of course, you know."

Tony heard something strange in Tim's voice, but he couldn't figure out what it was.

The relief, though, was that he was starting to see things that were _real_. Chesapeake Bay was there. It was water. It was just being there...like water was supposed to. The sky was still...wrong, but there was time. Tim had a lot to do and Tony wasn't going to tell him how to do something he only barely understood.

"How long will this take, do you know?"

"As long as it takes," Tim said with a bit of a smile.

"Okay, okay. I won't bug you."

"You're not, Tony. I don't mind. If I was bugged by it, I wouldn't have brought you back first. I'd have waited until last."

"Ha! I knew you wanted me around!"

Tim nodded but he didn't say anything. He continued to focus on creating reality.

...and Tony watched.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"...all right," Gibbs said.

Then, he blinked. There had been a moment, just a moment when he had thought that...

"Has the danger passed?" Ducky asked.

Danger. There had been something. Why else would they have gone to the basement? There was something that had happened, something that Gibbs knew he had understood, but... what was it?

Ziva was looking around with an expresion of confusion on her face.

"Something happened. What are we doing down here?"

They looked around the basement. Everyone else seemed confused about what was going on, too.

"Can we leave?"

The question seemed to be a good one to have answered, but no one knew what the answer was. What had happened?

"Wait...where is Tony and McGee? They are not down here. Why not?" Ziva asked.

Ducky looked around.

"You're right. They're not here. Where are they? They were at work this morning, weren't they?"

Gibbs nodded, and the _something_ seemed to have to do with Tony and Tim. He was getting there, but he said nothing. It was like there had been a curtain drawn across his mind. No, it was more solid than a curtain. It was... What was it?

"Jethro...what do you think?"

There was a lot of movement in the basement as people were nervous and afraid and wondering whether or not they could leave.

Gibbs pulled himself together and got onto a chair so that he was higher than everyone else.

"Hey! Everyone stay calm! Agent David and I are going to check out what's going on! Everyone else just stay in here until we get back! Got it?"

There was a feeling of relief at someone taking charge of a bizarre situation and everyone started to calm down.

Gibbs got down and looked at Ziva. She nodded.

"Ducky, you stay here. Did Abby not come down?"

"She might have gone to the subbasement with Cybercrimes. She likes to hang out down there, too," Ziva said.

Gibbs nodded.

"Let's go."

Together, they walked out of the room. Everything in the hallway looked normal.

"What do you think, Gibbs?" Ziva asked.

They both pulled out their guns and crept toward the elevator. There was nothing abnormal. Everything looked right.

But that seemed wrong to both of them.

They didn't take the elevator. Instead, they headed up the stairs to the bullpen.

The desks and chairs were a bit askew, indicating that they'd all gone downstairs in a bit of a hurry, but there was nothing more than that. They looked around the silent bullpen. Then, Ziva looked out the windows.

"Gibbs!"

Gibbs followed her gaze and for just a moment, the sky was...

...impossible.

There were no words to describe what they both saw, but then, almost too quickly for them to take it in, there was a movement...as if someone had decided to play a recording of glass shattering backwards.

In a second, perhaps less, the sky was normal. Blue with a few wispy clouds.

"What was that?" Ziva asked.

Then, it clicked...or it _almost_ clicked in Gibbs' mind. Something about Tim. He was the one responsible for this...somehow. And Tony was involved but not directly. Something was keeping him from remembering fully, but it was still there.

"Don't know," he said aloud.

"Agent Gibbs, Agent David."

It was Vance. He was up on the balcony looking down at them.

"All clear, Director?" Gibbs asked.

Vance laughed a little. "Not in the slightest. I was in MTAC, and no one can remember why. We all decided that something had happened, but we don't know what it was. The monitors were out for a split second and everything looks normal now."

"The sky was _not_ normal just now," Ziva said. "And now it is."

"Where is everyone else?"

"In the basement," Gibbs said.

"And you don't know why, either?"

"No," Ziva said. "Something has happened. We all feel it...but..."

"...but what it is, no one knows."

Ziva nodded.

Vance took a breath. "Okay. I'll go back to MTAC and see what I can find out. Let everyone out of the basement. If they want to go home, let them. Today is...something I can't explain. Maybe the FBI knows more about...what's going on. Or not going on."

He walked back to MTAC, and Gibbs was relieved that he didn't seem to notice Tony's and Tim's absences. Ziva, on the other hand...

"McGee's bag is still here. Tony _was_ here. Where are they, Gibbs?"

"Don't know."

"They would have been with us in the basement if they were in the building."

"Yeah."

"Then, what has happened?"

"I don't know, Ziva. I was down there, too."

Ziva looked at Gibbs and her eyes narrowed.

"But I feel that you know _something_."

"I don't know anything."

"Now, I _know_ you are lying," Ziva said. "You answered too directly. Too quickly."

Gibbs smiled. "I don't know, Ziva."

"Then, what do you _surmise_?"

Gibbs chuckled.

"Tony and Tim are involved in whatever it is, but I don't know what it is."

"Of course, they are. Then, what do we do?"

"What Vance said. Let everyone go and...wait."

"Wait? Since when do you _wait_?"

"Since I have the feeling that there's nothing else I _can_ do. I feel like I have to wait and watch."

Ziva looked around the bullpen. Gibbs got the feeling that she was _almost_ remembering, like he was. Not quite.

They went down to the basement and sent everyone home. Then, they went back up to the bullpen.

They sat down and waited.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"How much longer, Tim?" Tony asked.

"As long as it takes, Tony," Tim said.

Tony smiled. Tim had been saying that every time he asked.

The sky was normal. Tony couldn't see anything wrong anywhere he looked. Tim's expression was still one of concentration.

But suddenly, Tony noticed something else in Tim's expression. It wasn't just concentration. He wasn't sure what it was.

"Tim?"

"What?"

"There's something else."

"About what?"

"I don't know. I just see it."

Tim took a breath. He didn't look away. He closed his eyes and tensed and then relaxed. He put down his hand for a moment and looked at Tony.

"Tony..."

"What?"

"I'm glad you're here."

"Why?"

Tim lifted his hands again.

"It's almost done."

"I hear a _but_ in there."

"But there's a part of reality that's still broken."

"What part?" Tony asked, feeling a curl of dread.

He looked out over the bay and saw the dragons coming back. Then, he looked at Tim. He remembered that Tim had been afraid of what would happen to him. Tony had assumed that, because Tim had still been there, that he had nothing to worry about.

"Tim."

Tim smiled.

"I hope you still remember me, Tony. I hope that I don't just vanish."

The dragons were coming closer.

"Tim...isn't there..."

"There's nothing to do. I gave them a command. They're coming back. They're almost done. I can't stop them. They have to finish."

Tim voice was shaking.

"You said you can't know how you'll die, Tim."

Tim looked at him, but kept his hands up. The dragons were still getting closer.

"Does it count as dying if I never existed?"

The roaring of the dragons. They hadn't roared before. Not once that Tony had seen. They were silent. There was a roar now.

Tony tried to think of something to say, but he couldn't.

...and then, it was too late.

The dragons reached Tim. There wasn't even a pause as they leapt at him. Tim was surrounded by the three dragons. Instead of his hand being a guide, it was up in the air as Tim silently screamed. The dragons swirled around Tim, pulling him up off the ground. They were going faster and faster, getting brighter and brighter. Tony felt frozen in place. There was nothing he could do as he watched.

Then, he couldn't even watch. The dragons were so bright that they blinded him. He closed his eyes and turned his head.

He was taken completely by surprise by the force of a shock wave that blew him onto his back.

The roar was gone.

All was silence except for the sound of the water.

Tony lay on his back, stunned, for a few seconds.

Then, he registered the fact that there was no movement. Nothing.

He sat up and looked around.

"No," he whispered.

Tim was lying on his back. Eyes open and unseeing. His body was spreadeagled. Motionless.

Tony scrambled over to Tim.

The tattoo on his palm was still there, but it was fading away. Somehow, Tony knew that, once the tattoo was gone, Tim would be gone, too.

How could he stop a tattoo from fading? It wasn't even ink. Not that he knew of, but even if it _had_ been ink, there was nothing he could do.

He grabbed Tim's wrist and shook his arm.

"Come on, Tim. No. You just saved the world. You can't die now. We have another movie to watch!"

There was no pulse. There was no breath. There was just a body.

Tony had seen Tim dead once before. The first time he'd stepped into this other world. Tim had shot himself, to keep from being taken over by the Proprietor, only to be saved by Rhian, his long-dead ancestor.

There was no one to save Tim this time.

Tony was staring at Tim, not knowing what to do besides sit there.

Sit and stare at a dead body.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Tony had no idea what to do now. Tim's tattoo was fading. There was nothing but a body there. He was just staring.

After an eternity of staring, Tony started to try and force himself to think about how he was going to get off Poplar Island and get back to DC. Would anyone remember Tim? Would he matter? He had saved the world and it wasn't right that no one knew.

_Will I forget?_

No. No, Tony wouldn't let himself forget that Tim had saved them. He felt numb, but he wouldn't let Tim's sacrifice mean nothing. Tim had known that this might be required of him and he hadn't shrunk from it. Okay, he had a little bit, but who wouldn't? And he'd paid the price in the end.

He rubbed his forehead with the heel of his hand, trying not to think too much about the fact that Tim appeared to be dead.

He started to stand.

But then, he saw something.

He thought.

He turned back.

There was a faint green shape.

" _Don't give up."_

It was almost a voice. Not quite.

"What?"

" _Don't give up."_

Tony knelt down again. The green shape was beside Tim.

Not just a shape. A woman. Something pinged on his brain.

"Rhian," he whispered.

" _Don't give up."_

"What are you saying? He's dead! No one is even going to know that he did this."

" _Remember."_

Tony stared at the almost-invisible shape of Rhian.

"How can you be here?" he asked. "Tim got rid of this stuff."

" _We are real, just not in the way you think."_

Tony looked down at Tim.

"How will not giving up help?"

" _Remember."_

"What!" Tony shouted. "You can't just say that. You have to give me more! I am not the knower! I never was. I'm just along for the ride!"

Rhian reached out, her translucent hand stretched toward him. Tony found himself reaching out as well. He didn't touch her, but he felt something when his hand passed through hers.

" _I am real. Believe."_

"Believe what?"

" _Believe."_

"I don't..." But then, he stopped. A casual question he'd asked before... "Believe."

The third part that Greta had said. It wasn't just knowing and dreaming. He remembered what Greta had said.

" _Sometimes, belief can triumph over what is real and what is dreamed. Remember that, human."_

Tony forced a laugh to cover the sudden hope even if he had know idea of what to do with the thought.

"So...what is this? Something like Peter Pan clapping his hands for Tinkerbell?"

Rhian didn't even respond to that. Her head turned down toward Tim's body and her hand reached down and cupped around his cheek. Then she touched his tattooed palm.

" _I am sorry for his pain."_

"But you did it to him."

" _Of necessity. I would have chosen otherwise if there had been a choice."_

Tony couldn't think of a retort. Rhian's actions were too much like a mother mourning the loss of a child.

" _Remember,"_ she said. _"'In the real world, as in dreams...'"_

"'Nothing is quite what it seems,'" Tony finished the rhyming couplet that Greta had recited over and over again before.

Then, before he could ask another question, Rhian faded away. Tony was left alone, looking down at Tim. His tattooed palm faced the sky. There was no one here to do anything. No one could laugh at him for what he was about to try.

Carefully, Tony picked up Tim's hand, trying not to notice how limp it was...how _dead_ it felt. He picked it up and covered it with his own hand. Then, he stared at Tim, willing him to be alive, willing it with all he had.

_Is this even possible?_

"Tim, I refuse to accept that you're dead. I won't believe that. I won't believe that you died. You are _not_ just a knower. You aren't just a dreamer. You exist. You always have. You can't be dead. You can't fade away. You can't do that because I won't let you. I believe that you are still alive. People talk about miracles all the time, things that can't be explained. Just because there's reality...that doesn't mean that unexplained things can't happen. They can. You can be alive now. You don't have be dead for reality to be okay. That stupid rhyme that Greta kept saying, all those times she was tearing you apart to force you to do this... Maybe it was more than a stupid rhyme. Nothing is what it seems to be. Not now. Not ever. You seem to be dead, but you're not. I won't believe that. I believe that you're alive!"

Tony stared at Tim for a long time.

...and nothing happened.

He sighed, feeling more crushed than he wanted to admit. Since Rhian had still existed, he wanted to believe that Tim could live. It nearly broke him to have it fail. He let go of Tim's hand. He sat back and buried his head in his hands. Tears that he wouldn't let fall came into his eyes.

"It's not fair, Tim," he whispered. Then, he let out a choked laugh. "I was ready to believe in fairies."

Silence reigned yet again.

...but then...

An exhalation.

A soft one.

It didn't come from Tony.

The only reason he was sure was because he had been breathing in when he heard it.

He lifted his head.

Tim's eyes were closed.

They had been open before.

Now, they were closed.

Could it mean–?

A soft, slow inhalation. Tim's eyes opened.

For a split second, there were no eyes at all, but then, the familiar green irises appeared.

"Tim."

Tim didn't look at him, didn't react, didn't do anything, really.

"Tim."

Tim lifted his hand and stared at the palm.

That was all.

"Tim," Tony said again.

Tim was looking around, and saying nothing. It was almost like he didn't even hear Tony speaking at all.

Then, his eyes fell on Tony and his brow furrowed. He looked at his palm again.

"Are you all right?" Tony asked.

Tim still said nothing. Tony took a breath and held out his hand. Tim stared at it for a long moment and then at his own hand again. ...and then, he took hold of Tony's and let Tony pull him up to a sitting position.

"Are you feeling okay, Tim?"

"Tim?" Tim asked, his voice halting.

"Yeah. That's you."

"What is me?" Tim asked slowly.

"Tim. That's your name."

Tim looked at his palm again. Then, he looked around him.

"Come on, Tim. You got to give me something," Tony said.

Tim touched his palm where the faint outlines of a dragon tattoo could be seen.

"Dragons," Tim whispered.

"Yeah."

"Why?"

Tony was getting a sinking feeling with every little thing Tim actually said. Tim was stroking his palm with three fingers.

"No way. You can't leave me to be the only person in the world who knows what happened! I can't be the only one with an intact memory! Come on, Probie! Rub those neurons together and remember!"

Tim looked at him, his brow furrowed.

"I don't understand," he said. "Where is here?"

"Poplar Island."

"It's real?" Tim asked.

"Yes. Very real."

Tim looked around again.

"Real," he said softly. "It's real."

Even after all that had happened, it took Tony a few seconds to realize the significance that Tim was asking if it was real.

"That's what you did, Tim. You made it real. It's real."

Tim looked at his hand again and then around at the world.

"Real."

"Yes."

"How...am I here?"

"What do you mean?" Tony asked. He couldn't figure out if Tim was remembering or not. Tim's expression was anything but understanding and he seemed flummoxed by the situation.

Tim held out his right hand, palm up. Tony could still see the faint lines.

"How?"

Tony wasn't really following.

"Tim, do you know who you are?"

Then, there was the first glimmer of emotion in Tim's eyes.

Fear.

"You do! I can see it! You know! Just say it."

"There's...something...but..."

"But nothing. You know who you are."

Tim shook his head.

"Yes, you do! Say it!"

"It's still there," Tim whispered.

"What is?"

He held up his hand again.

"It's still there."

"Yeah? So?"

"This is real."

"Yes!" Tony said, in frustration.

Tim looked at him and then got to his feet and walked over to the edge of the water. Then, he knelt down and touched it with his palm. Tony watched him, trying to understand something he just wasn't getting. What was the most important thing here?

_That all this is real...and he still has his tattoo, or at least a bit of it. ...and he wasn't supposed to survive this. He thought he'd die or not exist or whatever. That's almost what happened._

But it didn't. So it should be fine.

_Belief._

The word came into his head out of nowhere...and it was, he could have sworn, Greta's voice.

Belief? But Tim was already alive, just a little confused.

And then, again, there was a voice in his head. Greta's voice.

_There's no reality except the one contained within us._

Tim cocked his head to the side...as if he'd just heard it, too.

"You heard that."

Tim looked at him, still afraid.

"What does it mean, Tim? You tell me."

It was like Tim was afraid even to speak...as if that would destroy something.

...like reality...because he was still around and he shouldn't be...according to him.

"Say it, Tim."

Tim swallowed.

"Say it or else I'm going to smack you upside the head!"

"I made reality," he whispered.

"And you did a great job. Just keep yourself in it."

"How?" Tim asked. "How can I?"

"You're already here! Reality isn't broken!"

"I..."

"What? Come on, Tim! Talk to me! There's just us on this island. No one else to hear. No one else knows what's happened. Tell me what's happening in your head!"

Tim shook his head and closed his eyes, clenching his fist tightly. Tony could see that there was something else going on that Tim didn't want to share, but he needed to know just one thing.

"Tell me that you know who you are, Tim. Just say it and that's all ask. Okay?"

Tim's voice was so low that Tony almost couldn't hear him.

"I know who I am."

"Okay. How about we see if we can get off this island, then?"

Tim's reluctance was crystal clear, but they couldn't stay where they were. Tony pulled out his phone, wondered briefly if it would work, and then dialed.

" _Gibbs."_

"Hey, Boss."

" _What's going on, Tony?"_

"Uh...what do you _think_ is going on?"

" _Is McGee with you?"_

"Yeah."

" _And everything is fine?"_

"More or less."

" _More? Or less?"_

"Less right now...hopefully, more later."

" _Everything seems fine, but the whole world seems to think something happened but no one can remember anything happening."_

Tony couldn't help but smile.

"Including you, Boss?"

" _I know you're involved and so is McGee."_

"Yeah. Mostly McGee."

" _You coming back?"_

Tony looked at Tim who had started rubbing his fingers over his faded tattoo again.

"Not tonight. Got some things to take care of. Think you can cover for us until tomorrow?"

" _Important?"_

"Yeah."

" _Okay. I'll tell Ziva."_

"No one else?"

" _No one else has realized you two are gone."_

"Good. I hope we'll be back tomorrow."

" _McGee?"_

"Yeah, mostly."

" _Okay. I'll hold them off."_

"Thanks, Boss."

Gibbs said nothing. He just hung up. Tony looked back at Tim who had sat down again on the ground, rubbing at his palm.

Tony walked over and crouched down in front of Tim.

Tim looked at him.

"We're going to get off this island."

Tim shook his head.

"Yes, but you don't have to talk to anyone. I won't make you, but we can't stay here, and I'm not leaving you here."

Whatever was really bugging Tim, Tony wasn't going to leave him here, even if he asked for it. ...even if he _didn't_ ask.

Tony stood up and held out his hand. Tim looked at Tony's hand and then took it and let Tony pull him up.

It took a couple of hours, but eventually, they were able to flag down a passing boat, talk their way aboard and get back to land. Then, Tony rented a car from a rental agency (the person at the counter seemed a bit befuddled) and drove to DC.

Tim didn't say a word the entire trip. In fact, it reminded Tony of the first time, when he didn't know what was going on. Tim had said nothing. He had been terrified then, too.

They got to Tony's apartment and Tony went to the kitchen to find something to eat. When he came out to ask Tim what he wanted, Tim was crouched on the floor, touching almost nothing. Tony sighed and walked over.

"Tim, talk to me. What's going on?"

Tim didn't say anything...as had been the case for the last few hours. Tony could tell that Tim wasn't just trying to be difficult.

"I've been with you through all of this, Tim. Don't keep me out now. Especially, when you did what you had to do and you survived it."

For a long moment, Tim said nothing. After all the times Tony had tried to get Tim to explain, even to say _something_ , he didn't expect this to change.

But maybe it was the location, maybe it was just the passage of time.

Tim spoke.

"I was torn apart," he whispered. "They tore me apart, ripped out pieces of me."

Tony didn't say anything, not wanting to interrupt Tim now that he was talking.

"And I was gone. Almost. Not quite. I was going. Then...I was getting pulled back, and it hurt...because there are pieces missing. Things that were torn away, destroyed...annihilated. They're gone and I feel them gone. I feel the pieces missing. I feel like there are holes in me."

"What pieces?" Tony asked softly.

"The dreamer is gone. I don't...I didn't think I'd miss it. I didn't like it...but I felt the hole."

"The knower?"

Tim seemed to curl in on himself. He held out his hand. The faint outline of the tattoo were visible. Nothing more.

"It's not all gone, but it was supposed to be!" He looked at Tony. Suddenly, he wasn't whispering. "It was supposed to be! I wasn't going to survive that! I've been a knower my whole life! That's all I've been! I don't know how to be anything else! I don't know how to exist like this! I don't know! I don't _know_!" He stopped and breathed heavily for a few seconds. "I don't know. I feel blind. I feel blind and deaf and I can't...feel...or know...or anything. And I'm afraid that...that what I do feel is going to destroy the world again. How can I be here?"

Tim was almost panicked, and Tony hadn't ever thought about how much Tim would be affected by _losing_ what he'd had for almost his entire life...but he wasn't about to let him lose now that he'd won.

"Rhian was there."

"What?"

"Rhian still exists, Tim. She said she's real. ...and she's a ghost! There's more than just what you can see and touch. There's more to it, and you made reality right, Tim. It's not shaking. It's not failing. And you're here...and you _can_ be. You might need time to get used to being like the rest of us, but you're alive, and you know you are. You heard what Greta said."

"She shouldn't be saying _anything_ ," Tim said.

"Why not? She still exists. I didn't _see_ her, but so far as I know people will still be sleeping. You made reality, Tim. You did it right."

"I don't know why I'm still here."

"Because I wouldn't let you not exist."

"But why?"

"Because it's better to have you existing than not."

Tim sat on the floor.

"I feel so lost," Tim said.

"You're not. You're right here. You just need to accept it. Believe it."

Tim _looked_ lost as he sat there. Tony sat down by him and put his arm around Tim's shoulders.

"It'll be okay, Tim. Just give it a chance."

"Okay," Tim whispered.

"Now, I don't know about you, but I'm starved. Come on."

Tim got up and followed Tony to the kitchen.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

_They were coming after him again. They were coming._

_He ran and ran, trying to get away. He didn't want them to find him._

_But he was cornered._

_The ground began to shake._

_He turned around to face them._

_The dragons dove at him. He raised his hands to hold them off._

_They dove into his hands and began to devour him from the inside._

He screamed...and screamed.

"Wake up, Tim! Come on, man! Snap out of it!"

He was being shaken, but he couldn't stop screaming.

"Wake up!"

He opened his eyes.

"They're tearing me apart! They're killing me!" he shouted.

"No, they're not! Calm down!"

Tim blinked a few times and saw Tony.

"They're killing me," he whispered.

"No, they're not," Tony said.

Tim closed his eyes.

"No, they already did."

"Tim, come on. You're okay."

"No, I'm not. I'm...missing parts of me. I'm broken in pieces."

"No, you're not. You're whole. You just need to get used to being different."

Tim shook his head.

"No! I can't be missing parts! I can't and they're..."

Tony grabbed Tim's hand and turned it over.

"Look at it, Tim! Look at your palm! What do you see?"

Tim looked at it and touched the faint outlines.

"Three into one," he whispered.

Nothing happened.

"They aren't there anymore. Instead, they're inside, tearing me apart."

"No, Tim."

"Yes!" Tim shouted. "I can _feel_ them! They're inside me, Tony! They're ripping me apart again! They're taking me apart! I'm here! I'm alive! And I'm being ripped to shreds! Tony, they're tearing me apart!"

Tony shook him again. "Tim, stop it! You're not being ripped to shreds. It's all in your head."

"Yes, they're in there, too!" Tim said. He was trying to get Tony to understand, but he didn't have the words for how disoriented he felt, how wrong the world was, how much he wished he wasn't here. He could never have guessed that it would feel like this.

"Tim, stop. Just stop freaking out and listen to me."

"I don't want to listen to you. I don't want to hear what you have to say. I don't want to..."

Tony slapped him upside the head.

"Tim, I was willing to act like an idiot and say that I wasn't going to believe that you were dead...even when you weren't breathing. I did everything short of clapping my hands! Your heart wasn't beating and you were dead and on your way to not existing. I decided to believe, even though everything I could see was telling me it was a waste of time. You are not going to let the problems you're having keep you from living. After all the stuff that's gone on...we're having the happy ending, okay?"

"What's the happy ending?"

"Uh...we go to work and things are normal?"

Tim smiled a little. "Normal for you isn't normal for me."

"But it _can_ be."

"So..." Tim struggled to find something normal to say. "...what time is it?"

"Two."

"In the morning?"

"Yep."

"Sorry."

Tim looked around. He didn't really remember falling asleep, but he was sitting on the couch and had a blanket over him.

"It's okay. You going to go to sleep again?"

Tim shook his head. "No. Not for a while. Tony...I feel like I'm not...going to be..."

"All right. Well, then, since we can't watch the _Road to Bali_ yet..."

"Why not?"

"Not until it's over," Tony said. "It's not over yet; so we'll wait. Since we're not watching that, then, what are we going to watch?"

"You don't have to stay up, Tony."

"Yeah, I do."

Tim looked at the TV and then looked at Tony.

"I don't care what we watch," he said softly.

"And tomorrow?"

"What about it?"

"Work?"

"Do I have to go?"

Tony smiled. "I'm not your mother, McGee. I don't have any control over what you do."

Tim couldn't smile. Everything felt too wrong for him to want to smile.

"I can't be who I was, Tony. I don't know how. I don't feel like I can do anything, be anyone. I just...am existing, and I don't if I want to."

Tony's smile vanished.

"You want to," he said. "You want to exist, and if it takes you a few days to get used to it, then, that's fine, but you don't have the option of not existing."

"I can't go to work," Tim said, fixating on the one thing he was sure of.

"All right. I'll tell Gibbs."

"Okay."

Tony started looked through his movies, and Tim watched him. He felt as though he was doing something wrong, but he didn't know. He was fumbling in the dark, trying to figure out what he was supposed to do. He just didn't know.

"I'm sorry, Tony."

Tony turned back.

"Sorry for what?"

"For not knowing."

Tony's expression was actually sympathetic.

"Tim, I don't care if you know or not. I'm just glad that you're alive because, quite frankly, I'm sick of seeing you dead." He smiled. "It's happened way too often."

"Yeah, it has. I didn't really like it, either."

"I know. So... _Die Hard_ , then?"

"What?"

"Movie." Tony held up the case.

"Sure. Whatever."

Tony put it in and started it going. Tim didn't see a minute of it. Even when he was staring at the TV, he felt like nothing was getting in. Tony's presence was the only thing he really understood. The rest of it was confusing.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tony fell asleep sitting on the couch, and when he woke up in the morning, Tim was asleep, too.

Tony looked at him and worried about what would happen. He hadn't expected to have Tim so...lost. Had it ruined him? It was such a surprise that Tim didn't know what to do with himself now. Could Tim be happy the way he was? Tony wasn't about to give up on him, but what if Tim _couldn't_ adjust to being different from what he'd been?

_It's only been a day since he destroyed and rebuilt reality. It's way too soon to give up. Take some time and let him adjust. Gibbs will give him the time he needs._

Tony nodded to himself and got off the couch. He wasn't going to give up. He wasn't going to push Tim too quickly. He'd find his way. Tony was sure of it.

Tim didn't even stir as Tony got ready. Was he really asleep? Tony didn't know, but he didn't want to make Tim feel guilty about not going to work. He'd saved the world. He deserved some time off.

"Bye, Tim," he said softly.

Tim didn't even move.

Tony left.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

When Tony was gone, Tim sat up on the couch. He hadn't really slept much. He was too afraid of getting eaten again.

It didn't matter that it wasn't real. It was bad, regardless.

But he _was_ tired. Maybe, if he slept now, he wouldn't bother Tony with how strange he was.

Maybe there could be something that would make him feel less like he was drifting through reality.

As he drifted off to sleep, he heard something...

" _Hear my silent prayer, heed my quiet call  
_ _When when the dark and blue surround you  
_ _Step into my sigh, look inside the light  
_ _You will know that I have found you..."_

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tony walked into NCIS and smiled at Henry.

"You feeling normal this morning, Agent DiNozzo?" he asked.

Tony stepped through security.

"More or less. You?"

"Still got the feeling that I missed something really important...only I don't know what it is. Seems like everyone feels that or something like it, but no one knows what it is."

"Everyone?"

"Everyone I've asked, and haven't you watched the news?"

"No. Guess I missed that."

Henry laughed. "People all over the world are talking about how something happened that doesn't make sense. Some crazies are saying that the world was destroyed and we were just made to forget it. Don't see how we could forget the world being destroyed, and if it was, what would you call where we are now?"

"Heaven?" Tony suggested with a smile.

"If this is heaven, I'm pretty disappointed."

Tony laughed but he was now wondering just what had been happening in his absence. Apparently, Tim hadn't been able to remove all memory of it...which could be a problem eventually.

Maybe it was a good thing Tim wasn't here today. He'd be hard-pressed to keep himself acting normal with everyone so confused. He'd probably break down and start shouting that it was all his fault. He waved and headed up to the bullpen. When he got there, it was surprisingly empty. Gibbs and Ziva were the only ones there.

"Good morning," Tony said.

Gibbs got up, Ziva right behind him, and walked over. Before Tony could take two steps off the elevator, Gibbs had forced him back on it. Then, as Tony had dreaded, the elevator stopped.

"What happened yesterday?" Gibbs asked with no fanfare.

"And where is McGee?" Ziva asked.

"I didn't see it happen, either, Boss," Tony said. "And McGee is, hopefully asleep, in my apartment."

"Why?" Ziva asked.

"He needed someplace to crash."

"What happened?" Gibbs asked again.

Tony sighed.

"I should have stayed home today," he said.

"That wouldn't have helped. What happened?"

"Boss, I really can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"Because I didn't see it, either," Tony said.

"See what?" Ziva asked.

Tony stayed silent.

"Something happened. Everyone in the world knows it. And _I_ remember that it had something to do with McGee. But no one else seems to know that. What happened?"

"You're not going to believe it or understand it."

"Say it anyway."

"Reality broke and McGee fixed it," Tony said.

"What?" Ziva asked.

"Exactly what I said. How he did it and all the reasons it broke...I can't tell you because I don't know."

"Why McGee?"

"I told you once already. It's not _my_ fault you forgot."

"You did?"

"Yes. Yesterday."

"Before this...happened?"

"Yeah."

"Tell us again," Gibbs said.

"McGee was a...a knower. He had some kind of special power and he doesn't have it anymore. After he fixed things, he lost it."

"Why?"

"Because...that's what had to happen," Tony said. "Guys, I'm trying to explain something that I can't explain."

"Why do _you_ still remember?" Ziva asked.

"Because I was there. That's the only explanation I have. I don't know why other than that."

"Why isn't McGee back?" Gibbs asked.

"He's having some trouble adjusting."

"To what?"

"I don't know. He just needs a few days, Boss. Can you give him that?"

"Why is it you?" Ziva asked.

"Because I'm nosy and I was nosy at just the right time."

Ziva smiled.

"You're sure that what you told us is true?" Gibbs asked.

"Absolutely. No doubt in my mind, Boss."

Gibbs gave him a look. Tony hoped that there would be some acceptance. He was fudging some things and not telling them everything.

"Can you accept that, Boss?"

"You'd better not be lying," Gibbs said.

"Cross my heart," Tony said.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

_He was in a place that looked familiar. He had seen it before._

" _It is your place. Of course you have seen it before."_

_He spun around._

" _You!"_

_She smiled._

" _You are surprised."_

" _You're not supposed to exist anymore."_

" _You set me free from my former shape. You did not prevent me from taking it on when I wished to."_

" _But you're not supposed to exist. That's..."_

" _You built a reality that incorporates me into it."_

" _I did?"_

" _Yes, you did."_

" _I didn't mean to."_

" _You're dreaming now. It isn't as though you have to worry about my appearing in the real world. Why are you still uncertain? If reality was shaken, you would know it. It is stable...because you have allowed it some give."_

" _Give? What do you mean?"_

" _It is not rigidly real with no give. It wasn't before. How do you think that the knowers existed before your ancestor? There has always been an element of the supernatural. But there are limits. Dreams have no limits."_

_He looked around._

_The waterfalls. The island in the center. It was his dream. ...but he hadn't had dreams for a long time._

" _You're having dreams now."_

" _This is only a dream?"_

" _Yes."_

" _Why?"_

" _Because you did what you had to do, and yet you are suffering from it."_

" _And?"_

" _And there is no reason for it. Hold up your hand."_

_He did so, not even questioning...as often happens in dreams. She took hold of his hand, brought up to her mouth and blew on it gently._

_His eyes widened._

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Gibbs sent Tony home pretty early in the day. Things were still in a state of upheaval all over the world. News stories were full of people claiming to know what had happened. World leaders were in secret meetings to decide what had happened to contribute to the world-wide strange uncertainty.

All in all, it was a little frightening to have all this going on, and to know that he was one of two people in the world who actually remembered what had happened. If someone figured that out, he and Tim could get into some trouble.

So Tony was happy to leave early. Besides, it gave him a chance to check on Tim.

When he got back to his apartment, he paused outside the door. He hoped that Tim would be better than he had been. If not...Tony wasn't sure what he would do.

Then, he shook his head at himself. He wouldn't find out by staying out here.

Tony unlocked the door and walked in.

Tim was sitting on the couch, his eyes wide open and his hand hanging in the air, palm up.

"Tim?"

There was no response.

"Tim!"

Tony hurried over and then was surprised at what he saw on Tim's hand.

The dragon tattoo was much more visible. Not as dark as it had been but still...

"Tim, what's going on?"

Tim blinked at him.

"Tony."

"What?"

"I know."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"What do you mean?" Tony asked. That statement could mean a lot more for Tim than it would mean for other people.

Tim looked at him and then looked at his hand.

"I had a dream. It was a dream, not one I'd made. I couldn't tell. How do you tell what is a dream and what isn't when you don't know?" he asked.

"Uh..."

That was all Tim gave him a chance to say. He looked at his hand again.

"I couldn't tell. She was there in my dream. She blew on my hand. And...and it was like I could see and hear again. I felt like there was something else besides me in the world. I felt...real. I didn't before. How do you bear that, Tony?"

"Bear what?"

"Feeling nothing."

Tony laughed. "I don't feel nothing. I feel a lot of things."

"But I didn't."

Tony sat down. Tim's hand was still in the air. This Tim was still that alien one who seemed not quite connected, but he was better than before.

"I don't know what she did but...but she blew on my hand and I knew again. Not everything, but I can feel! I know what's real and what's not!"

"You really couldn't before?"

"No! It was like...I didn't really exist."

"I know it's not the same, but I felt something kind of like that...when you took the mark off, when you broke that link."

"I had to do that," Tim said.

"No, you didn't."

"Yes, I did...because I couldn't be sure that you wouldn't have been destroyed along with me. It wasn't even so much about what I saw in your dream. It was that I knew just how much I could be called on to...to do. But you hadn't...and I didn't want you to be destroyed, too."

Tony was sobered by the thought that whatever had happened to Tim might have happened to him as well.

"But now...here I am and I...I know, again...but I don't know how." Tim took a breath and let it out. "But...was that really real or did I just make it up in my head? But if I just made it up, would it matter? Would it really make a difference?"

"Yes," Tony said.

"Why?"

"Because...it's about believing. Maybe that's what it took for you to be okay."

"But I know!"

Tony laughed. "Tim...most of us know _something_. I realize that you've lived most of your knowing more, but we're not blind and deaf. We know things. If you were really that blocked, then, I can understand why you're so excited now, but really...we know things."

Tim clenched his fist and let it fall to his lap.

"I'm sorry, Tony."

"What for?"

"I'm...really a mess, aren't I."

"You died...or whatever. I think you have license to be...unsettled."

Tim laughed a little.

"I wasn't unsettled. If anyone else had seen me...I'd have been committed. I don't know, Tony. I'm still so... Everything has been building up to this and now...I just don't know how to feel. I should be...happy, I think?"

"Yes, you should. We won!"

"But I still feel...a little lost."

Tony grinned.

"Well, I have the perfect solution."

"What?"

Tony held up his hand for a moment and ran to his movie shelf. He didn't have to search. He knew exactly where it was. He grabbed _Road to Bali_ and held it up.

"Is it over, then?" Tim asked.

"I think so. If you still need a few more days to adjust, that's fine, but you're acting like you, now."

Tim smiled a little. "Like a limp dishrag?"

Tony laughed. "No. You're acting like you. What do you think?"

Tim looked at the DVD for a few seconds and then smiled and nodded.

"Good. I'll put it in. You make some popcorn."

"Okay."

Tim went into the kitchen. He was still a bit unstable, but Tony was relieved that there was no hesitation. Tim was getting back to normal. Slowly, but surely.

Tony wondered if Tim's dream had been real. Tim didn't seem to know, but if it helped him settle down and accept any changes, Tony would go with it. He didn't really care whether Tim was a knower or not. What he wanted was for his friend to feel like himself. If Tim had that, no matter what it had taken, Tony was glad of it.

He put the DVD in and heard the popcorn popping. It made him smile. Something so normal as popcorn and a movie. It was really nice. Something normal in the midst of all the craziness...or at the end of all the craziness.

Was it really the end, though? Tony wasn't sure. For Tim's sake, he hoped so. Tim didn't need to fight with demons or repair reality anymore. It was hard enough knowing that he _had_ done all that already. It just seemed strange to think of it all being over. He didn't blame Tim for being off balance.

"Popcorn's done."

"Great. Bring it in."

Tim came in with a bowl of popcorn.

"Caramel popcorn is better," he said.

Tony laughed.

"Beggars can't be choosers, Probie. Just watch the movie."

They sat down and started it going.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Bob Hope was shouting about the movie not being over...to no avail.

_Positively THE END_

Tim laughed softly at the words on the screen and looked over. Tony was asleep. Was it really the end? Even Bob Hope and Bing Crosby had done another Road picture much later, without Dorothy Lamour and it was considered a real comedown after the previous six.

Had they had their _end_ yet? Tim figured that he had come close enough to losing everything that he deserved to have it be the end.

...and yet...

He lifted his hand and blew on it gently. It darkened.

He whispered, "Three into one."

The dragons didn't burst off of his hand as they had before.

But they moved. The tattoo on his hand shivered and the dragons skittered around his palm before settling once more as the tattoo faded again.

Was it over?

Maybe, maybe not, but Tim felt that, even without knowing everything, he could face it.

"Thanks, Tony," he said softly.

Tony stirred and smiled without opening his eyes.

"Thanks, Tim."

Tim leaned back against the couch and let his eyes slip closed.

Positively FINIS!

...probably...

_The best thing about dreams is that fleeting moment, when you are between asleep and awake, when you don't know the difference between reality and fantasy, when for just that one moment you feel with your entire soul that the dream is reality, and it really happened._

_~James Arthur Baldwin_

**Author's Note:**

> Originally, this was the end of the series, but after I finished it, I felt I needed one more step. ...and besides, there was one more Road Picture after this one anyway. :)


End file.
